Effect of statin therapy on muscle symptoms: an individual participant data meta-analysis of large-scale, randomised, double-blind trials

BackgroundStatin therapy is effective for the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and is widely prescribed, but there are persisting concerns that statin therapy might frequently cause muscle pain or weakness. We aimed to address these through an individual participant data meta-analysis of all recorded adverse muscle events in large, long-term, randomised, double-blind trials of statin …

Continue reading Effect of statin therapy on muscle symptoms: an individual participant data meta-analysis of large-scale, randomised, double-blind trials

Neural Signatures of Pain Modulation in Short-Term and Long-Term Mindfulness Training: A Randomized Active-Control Trial

Mindfulness-based interventions are widely used to target pain, yet their neural mechanisms of action are insufficiently understood. The authors studied neural and subjective pain response in a randomized active-control trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) alongside long-term meditation practitioners.Methods:Healthy participants (N=115) underwent functional neuroimaging during a thermal acute pain task before and after random assignment …

Continue reading Neural Signatures of Pain Modulation in Short-Term and Long-Term Mindfulness Training: A Randomized Active-Control Trial

Disentangling self from pain: mindfulness meditation-induced pain relief is driven by thalamic-default mode network decoupling

For millenniums, mindfulness was thought to diminish pain by reducing the influence of self-appraisals of noxious sensations. Today, mindfulness meditation is a highly popular and effective pain therapy that is thought to engage multiple, non-placebo related mechanisms to attenuate pain. Recent evidence suggests that mindfulness meditation-induced pain relief is associated with the engagement of unique …

Continue reading Disentangling self from pain: mindfulness meditation-induced pain relief is driven by thalamic-default mode network decoupling

Early life inflammation is associated with spinal cord excitability and nociceptive sensitivity in human infants

Immune function and sensitivity to pain are closely related, but the association between early life inflammation and sensory nervous system development is poorly understoodβ€”especially in humans. Here, in term-born infants, we measure brain activity and reflex withdrawal activity (using EEG and EMG) and behavioural and physiological activity (using the PIPP-R score) to assess the impact …

Continue reading Early life inflammation is associated with spinal cord excitability and nociceptive sensitivity in human infants